11:32 a.m. EST, November 13, 2012SOUTH BEND — A 59-year-old South Bend man who was struck by a South Bend Community School Corp. bus Monday morning was listed in critical condition today.Kenneth Reynolds suffered a serious head injury when he was struck just after 7 a.m. at the intersection of Portage and Elwood avenues on the city’s near northwest side.

The driver of the bus, 47-year-old Kimberly Thomas of South Bend, had been driving south on Portage and was at the four-way stop sign. Her turn signal was on and she turned right onto Elwood when she struck Reynolds, police said.

Reynolds was walking north on Portage across Elwood when he was struck. Thomas told police that because of the dark and rain, she did not see Reynolds as he walked in front of the bus.

Police said Reynolds was walking properly on the crosswalk. He was wearing all dark clothing, police noted.

Reynolds lives a block away from where the accident happened in the 1400 block of Portage.

A hospital spokeswoman said Reynolds was in critical condition since he arrived at the hospital but added officials did not believe he was in serious condition at the scene.

Bus 244 had children on it and was en route to LaSalle Academy.

A letter sent from assistant principal Elizabeth Lake to parents Monday notes that the accident was minor and that Reynolds suffered non-life threatening injuries, which turned out not to be the case.

No students on the bus were injured, but they were advised to go to the nurse’s office if they needed to seek medical attention at any point throughout the school day or if they wanted emotional assistance to see a counselor or student manager.

It is unclear if Thomas was cited.

Sue Coney, director of communications for the school district, said today that Thomas has been suspended with pay for two days while the investigation is ongoing.

She ruled that the cause of death was related to trauma sustained in the accident.Reynolds suffered head injuries after he was hit in the intersection of Portage and Elwood avenues in South Bend around 7 a.m.

South Bend police said the bus driver, Kimberly Thomas, 47, was driving south on Portage and had stopped at a four-way stop sign. She had signaled to turn right onto Elwood when she struck Reynolds, police said.

Police said at the time that Reynolds was properly using the crosswalk. He was walking north along Portage.

Thomas had told investigators she did not see the man because of darkness, rain and his dark clothes.

The bus was transporting children to LaSalle Intermediate Academy.

Authorities had said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening at the scene of the accident. Later though, Reynolds was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

South Bend Community School Corp. Sue Coney could not be reached for comment early Thursday evening.

She told the Tribune in November that Thomas was suspended with pay for two days during an investigation.

South Bend police spokesman Capt. Phil Trent could not be reached for comment about the status of the investigation into the accident.

A Granger couple is outraged and the South Bend Community School Corporation is investigating after the couple said a school bus driver left their 12-year-old son in the cold, nearly a mile from home. The sixth-grader’s parents said he walked home along a stretch of Grape Road during the Monday morning rush hour. It was supposed to be Kage Hurteau’s first day back to class after winter break. He’s bused to Edison Intermediate Center in South Bend even though he lives in the Penn-Harris-Madison district because he’s a special needs student. He takes medication for ADHD and bipolar disorders and has a ‘short fuse,’ his parents said.

But they don’t believe there’s any excuse for his bus driver to react the way she did. “I wouldn’t sit down and stop getting out of my seat,” he said. “She wouldn’t let me sit with my friends and I got mad at her.”

“I’m assuming he got irate and from what he says, she told him to get off the bus. Basically vacate,” said the boy’s father, Brian Townsend.

Kage said he chose to get off the bus but when he turned around to get back on board, the bus driver left – and he was stranded in a neighborhood off Grape Road, just east of the JC Penney Home Store. He decided the best thing to do from there was walk back home.

A neighbor saw him walking along the side of Grape Road but he did not recognize her and would not get in her car when she asked, so she drove to his house and told his mother and grandmother what she saw.

“Just think of all the things that could have gone wrong,” said Brian. “[He] could have been kidnapped, could have been hit on Grape Road.”

“I was scared,” Kage told WSBT.

Brian and his wife Dawn said they’re most upset about the fact that they weren’t made aware of what happened until about 45 minutes after the incident occurred – when Kage’s principal called their home.

“How can you not know where my child is? Isn’t that what you're supposed to be doing?” Dawn Townsend asked. “The bus driver is supposed to know. The school's supposed to know. That's the kind of faith I'm putting into these people when I send my kid to school every day.”

About 15 minutes after that phone call from the principal, the boy’s grandmother spotted him walking down their street, toward home.

“It basically took him 45 minutes to walk from wherever he was to here,” Brian said.

Now the Townsends are pushing the school corporation for answers. They filed a police report, contacted an attorney and said they’re keeping their son off the bus until it’s all sorted out.

“I have had conversations with the bus driver, she knew the issues,” said Dawn, who added that the transportation Department said her son should probably be placed on a special needs bus.

“How would you feel if it was your child?” asked Brian.

South Bend Community School Corporation spokeswoman Sue Coney told WSBT in an email statement, “This incident is still under investigation by the school and our transportation department to determine if the student or driver will face any disciplinary actions.”

bob_rx2000 wrote:Perhaps the problem could be solved by having the parents take their kid to and from school each day, especially since he is out of district.

I agree... It sounds like PHM passed the problem and the kid, in his own words, said he was a discipline problem and has a "short fuse." I'm getting really tired of using all kinds of psycho babble terminology excuses for bad behavior....

"Preserving and protecting the principles of the Constitution is the primary role of the federal government."

Let's see... I pay school taxes but my step-daughter is in private school. It seems to me then that he SBCSC could bus her each day to her school, since that would be the only value I'd get out of the taxes paid. If she went to the failing ghetto school provided by the SBCSC, they would take her to the danger zone for me.

Bob_Rx2000"Because, Gentlemen, I don't trust you..." Gunning Bedford, U.S. Constitutional Convention"First God created the idiot. That was for practice. Then he created the School Board." Mark Twain